A Microsoft official argued Jan. 13 that the U.S. Congress should create rules and regulations for cloud computing, a burgeoning technology that has gained traction among schools and colleges.

Some grant-giving entities have had to make adjustments in their award programs owing to the economic downturn, affecting both educators and students.

The National Labor College will make about 20 online courses available for the AFL-CIO's 11.5 million members next fall in an effort to help workers adapt to a job market that increasingly requires higher education.

Open scholarly content will become more commonplace in higher education in the next year as online universities and textbook companies organize and harness the internet's mass of educational material, according to a report that predicts campus technology advances within the next five years.

Combining text, audio, and video chat with features like drag-and-drop documents and interactive polls, Google Wave is a free web program that could add unprecedented depth to student interaction, many educators say.

To help meet schools' technology needs, several educators and web professionals volunteered their expertise during the Martin Luther King Day Technology Challenge on Jan. 18.

To help provide broadband access to more citizens, the Federal Communications Commission should expand the eligible uses of e-Rate discounts to include after-school programs and community centers, many school leaders and education groups say—but only if the $2.25 billion-a-year funding cap also is raised.

Technological innovations might be categorized along a continuum from sustaining to disruptive. In education, a sustaining technology might be a SMART Board, which in most applications is a way to present information dynamically and efficiently--a sustaining upgrade to the chalkboard and overhead projector--while a disruptive technology would be a virtual school.

Drexel University engineering student Jeffrey Dowgala says real-time information recorded by electronic sensors has helped him and his classmates understand the many environmental factors that can affect a bridge--an impact impossible to explore in standard textbooks.

Finalists in the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) National Superintendent of the Year competition met to discuss ways that districts and the federal government can transform education.

President Barack Obama on Jan. 6 announced an expansion of the Educate to Innovate program he launched last November, including the creation of several new partnerships to help attract, develop, reward, and retain outstanding science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers. Key words: Educate to Innovate, Obama education, STEM education, STEM teachers, global competition, educational technology

New netbooks, tablet computers, and eBook reader devices, as well as fresh developments in television and even a wireless tether to keep cell phones from getting lost, are among the technologies being unveiled this week at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas--technologies that might hold interest for schools and colleges as well. Key words: educational technology, educational technology products, Consumer Electronics Show, Skiff reader, netbooks education, tablet computers, eBook reader

Teachers are making significant progress in adopting digital media and using the internet for instruction, according to findings from a new survey released Jan. 5 by PBS. Key words: PBS, digital media, education research, student achievement, educational technology

The new online version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will allow college applicants to skip series of questions that don't apply to them and includes help text and easily accessible instructions, federal officials announced Jan. 5. Key words: FAFSA, student aid, Arne Duncan, educational technology, Jill Biden

Default Lines from eSchool News, first published in print on Jan. 1, 2010--Recently there was one of those odd juxtapositions of events that make following the news so interesting. Key words: science education, school source evaluation, creationism and evolution, Educate to Innovate, science literacy

Teachers are making significant progress in adopting digital media and using the internet for instruction, according to findings from a new survey released Jan. 5 by PBS. Key words: PBS, digital media, education research, student achievement, educational technology

Recently, we posted a look back at the 10 most significant education technology stories of 2009, as chosen by our editors. Now, here's a look at five stories that could have a huge effect on education technology in the new year. (As always, you can follow the latest developments regarding these and other stories at eSchoolNews.com.) Key words: education technology, school technology, emerging education trends, emerging technologies

Educators and their students soon could have another communications and mobile computing option that isn't tied to a specific cellular provider, giving schools more flexibility in deploying a smart-phone solution on campus. Key words: Nexus One phone, Google phone, Google smartphone, Android operating system

Recently, we posted a look back at the 10 most significant education technology stories of 2009, as chosen by our editors. Now, here's a look at five stories that could have a huge effect on education technology in the new year. (As always, you can follow the latest developments regarding these and other stories at eSchoolNews.com.) Key words: emerging education trends, emerging education technology trends, emerging technologies

For years, tech-savvy educators and product developers have pushed for more open educational resources in classrooms as a way not only to engage students through technology, but also to save money in a time of tighter budgets. But does using open courseware really make a difference in spending? Key words: open courseware, open-source textbooks, open educational resources, eBooks, eTextbooks, school technology budgets